MMPR FOCUS: FIVE TRENDS DRIVING DIAGEO’S LUXURY MARKETING

Diageo Reserve, which houses the drinks giant’s premium brands such as Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Tanqueray No. Ten and Ciroc, is in rude health. Currently 10% of the overall business, it is in double-digit growth across both developing and emerging markets and is on target to account for 20% of revenues in the coming years.

Buoyed by London’s status as a leader in fashion, media and culture, the GB arm of Reserve out-performed its Western Europe counterparts, registering growth of 29% over the last financial year.

Tanya Clarke, general manager for Diageo Reserve Western Europe, shares the five trends driving the company’s approach to the luxury consumer.

Epic experiences
It’s about people wanting to have a fantastic experience. Because we’re all so technology-driven right now one of the things people look for within luxury is a real experience.

Personalisation
Rather than feeling you’re out there in the craziness, it’s about the craft that goes with personalising things.

Intelligent luxury
That’s storytelling, people wanting to know the stories behind the brands and be entertained by that. It’s not like the 1980s with the big logo and talking about how much something has cost, actually there is now an intelligence there.

Luxury as an art form
Brands need to be editing their own content because people expect a brand to have a point of view. There are lots of examples where luxury brands are putting roles in like content officers into their companies.

Soulful luxury
Understanding your part in the world and making sure there’s an environmental context to it. We believe this is one of the big future trends in luxury.